To Keep A Secret
by Auria
Summary: SEIFTIS!! Seifer enrolls as a student at Galbadia Garden, in hopes of becoming a SeeD there. Quistis' new mission requires her to go undercover as a student at Galbadia Garden. Has Seifer finally found his true love? How long will Quistis keep her secret?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VIII or any other Squaresoft/Square Enix games/movies/whatever.  
To Keep A Secret  
  
By Auria Almasy  
Quistis Trepe sighed, her hand holding her chin, staring out the window. She sat in her dormitory, just looking out at the snowy trees of the Trabia. Two weeks after Time Compression, and life was truely bliss.  
  
Cid had given each of the "heroes", as the world had come to call them, a few weeks vacation. Somewhat of a reward for saving the world.  
  
Still, most of them managed to fill their time with something.  
  
Selphie and Irvine were working on plans for a new Trabia to be built, using the Garden Festival Commitee members to raise the money. Selphie had her whole heart into it, Quistis could tell just by the look in her eyes when she talked about it.  
  
Squall and Rinoa were busy with the media. The two most famous seventeen year olds had been married, and Rinoa had just begun her pregnancy.  
  
Zell was off visiting Ma Dincht, or more accurately, introducing to her his new girlfriend. Zell's trips to the library obviously weren't only for a good book to read, Quistis mused.  
  
And Quistis, well, she was sitting by the window.  
  
She couldn't say she didn't enjoy it. Quiet peacefulness wasn't something she was used to, especially during the last month or so, and it was actually quite nice to be able to do nothing but stare out a window for an hour.  
  
After coming through so much, it was the small things she appreciated and savored. Like having a warm cup of coffee from the cafeteria, or hearing the familiar sound of the intercom "ding", sounding another announcement for students and SeeD at Balamb Garden.  
  
She sat up, startled, when her dorm door swung open. She smiled, seeing Rinoa walked in.  
  
"Hey Quistis..." Rinoa said.  
  
"Hello Rinoa." Quistis said, motioning for Rinoa to take a seat on the bed, practically the only thing to sit on besides the floor and the small stool Quistis herself occupied.  
  
Rinoa shook her head. "I've come to tell you Cid wants you in his office, a kinda spur of the moment meeting."  
  
Quistis' eyebrows came together in confusion. What could Cid want her for? She was on vacation. She nodded.  
  
"Okay, let me get my purse and I'll be right up." she said, standing up.  
  
"Actually, you can walk with me. Me, Squall, Selphie, and Irvine are attending also." Rinoa said.  
  
"Okay, sure." Quistis said, grabbing her purse off the small nightstand and throwing it over her shoulder.  
  
The two women walked from Quistis' dorm to the eleveator in silence.  
  
As the doors slid open, Quistis watched Rinoa step inside, then stepped in herself and pressed the "Third Floor" button.  
  
"What could be so important that he would summon all of us on our vacation?" Quistis asked. Rinoa shrugged.  
  
The elevator chimed, and they walked from the exit to the small lift, then into Cid's office.  
  
Rinoa took her place beside Squall, and Quistis remained feet from the doorway. She crossed her arms.  
"So whats the big occasion Headmaster Cid?" Selphie asked, Irvine's arm draped over her shoulders.  
  
"Well, I would have liked to have Zell here also, but as you know, he's visiting family in Balamb. So, on to the reason you're all here..." Cid said. "...I need you to sacrifice the remaining two weeks of your vacation, Quistis."  
  
Quistis' eyes widened. "But why?"  
  
Cid folded his hands on his desk. Edea stood behind him, her hand placed on his shoulder. "Galbadia and Esthar are at it again, and it's not looking any better. With President Deling dead," Edea's gaze moved to the ground. Cid continued, " General Caraway has taken over presidential duties of Deling. With Squall and Rinoa's wedding, everyone was looking forward to a cessation in fighting between Esthar and Galbadia, however, nothing has changed."  
  
Squall butt in. "So what are we needed for? This doesn't concern Balamb Garden, this is between Galbadia and Esthar."  
  
"I'll get to that in a moment." Cid said. "This time, the country's fight involves Dollet. The land surrounding the town is rich with oil. President Laguna is willing to buy it from the town, but Caraway has learned of President Laguna's offer. As we know, former President Deling was working on gaining control over Dollet, as well as Timber."  
  
Rinoa nodded. "At the time I hired SeeD to help in the president's kidnapping, he was working with the mayor of Dollet, Mayor Huburd, on negotiations concerning Dollet. The town was too unlawful for safe living conditions. Dollet has no real law inforcement, just a small department of untrained men trying to keep the biggest criminals in Dollet under control."  
  
Cid nodded. "So President Deling offered to station Galbadian troops around and in the town, in return for full control and authority over it. That meant, if Galbadia went into war, Dollet was on it's side no matter what the situation. Mayor Huburd hesitated, and when the fight against Ultimecia came into action, negotiations were put on hold.  
  
"Even though President Deling is dead, Caraway plans to continue negotiations. That means Esthar and Galbadia are negotiating for the same land, putting them against eachother. This could mean a future war. Both countries will not back down, this we can clearly assume taking into consideration past wars between them.  
  
"To get more to the point, President Laguna has made request for SeeD. He's willing to pay a hefty amount of gil for us to try and bend the situation in his favor." Cid leaned back in his chair leisurely. Edea picked a briefcase up off the floor behind Cid's desk and placed it on his desk.  
  
"This is what we've come up with. We're going to sabotage any chance Galbadia has in gaining control of Dollet. No offense to you Rinoa, we know General Caraway is your father, but President Laguna is paying us gil we need dearly. The repairs Fisherman's Horizon made on Garden weren't free, they did them knowing Garden would pay them back."  
  
Rinoa put her hand up to silence Edea. "No offense taken, I'm just as much against my father as any of you are. Count me in this."  
Edea smiled. "Thank you for your understanding.". She turned to Quistis. "You're the one we need to carry out the mission."  
  
"But why would you choose me?" Quistis asked.  
  
"We need one of you to go undercover. Selphie and Irvine are leading a fundraiser, their disappearance would be strange. Squall and Rinoa are in media spotlight with their wedding and the new baby coming, and if one of them were to suddenly disappear people would get suspicious. You and Zell are left.  
  
"One, we wouldn't want to interrupt Zell's vacation with his family. Two, it's harder for men to go undercover than women, a woman is easier to mask with make-up and hair styles. And three, you are the only one really unnoccupied at the moment, Quistis.  
  
"Me and Cid were hoping you would undertake this task. You will be paid one fifth of everything Balamb Garden makes." Edea finished with a questioning look.  
  
Quistis sighed. That quiet peacefulness sure didn't last long. She glanced around the room. Selphie looked at her, a worried expression on her face. Irvine looked at the ground, deep in thought. Rinoa glanced from Edea to herself, and Squall looked back at her also.  
  
Her gaze moved to Edea's hopeful eyes. If not for the money, she had to do it for Edea and Cid. They'd raised her like parents, it was the least she could do for them.  
  
"Yes, I'll do it." she said, trying to maintain a voice of confidence. Edea's hopeful expression changed to a relieved smile.  
  
"Quisty, are you sure you want to do this? It's dangerous..." Selphie said.  
Quistis smiled back at Selphie. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm a big girl now Selphie." she said. Everyone chuckled a little bit. She approached the desk, next to Edea.  
  
"You are to leave for Galbadia in two days. Tonight, I want you to look over everything in this briefcase. Details on the mission, and cosmetics for your new identity are inclosed. There is also a new drivers license and social security card for your new identity. The gil is for a new wardrobe and any other expenses. Any questions will be answered in the mission details." Edea said.  
  
Quistis nodded, taking the briefcase. "I'll do my best."  
  
"Then that marks the end of this meeting." Cid said.  
  
Everyone started to head for the door. "And remember, none of what you have heard leaves this office." Edea said. Everyone mumbled agreement.  
  
Quistis sighed, heading for her dorm, briefcase in hand. What did she get herself into now?  
REVIEW IT!!!!! FLAME IT!!!!!! JUST SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!! *psst* The buttons down there....  
  
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	2. Chapter 2

Quistis plopped down on her queen-sized bed, nightrobe on, hair wrapped up in a soft towel, and briefcase in lap. She pressed the small metal clips on each side, and slowly opened it, the smell of new leather wafting from the black case.  
  
She took out the packet of papers stapled together, lying on the top of everything else. She sighed, setting it aside. Reading wasn't something she felt like doing right now. She took a peek at the rest of the items inclosed.  
  
She pulled out a small box, a woman with dark red hair was on the cover. Hair dye.  
  
"Oh great...they had to choose red..." she mumbled to herself. She'd tried red on herself before, it looked absolutely awful. She put it aside, next to the papers, and dug back in.  
  
Next she pulled out a small black makeup case. She unzipped it to find makeup, mostly peach and green shades. She zipped it back up and picked up a small box.  
  
"Iris Affections..." she read the label. Contacts. She looked to the bottom of the small container. It red "Emerald Seduction". She rolled her eyes at the advertisement slogans people were coming up with these days.  
  
She set that alongside the papers, hair dye, and makeup, to find more "treats".  
  
She found a wallet. She opened it to find one thousand gil, and her new driver's license.  
  
"Maylee Rinthe." she read off of the driver's license. She snorted, wondering who'd made up her name. Sounded like some backwoods hick girl's name...  
  
She began to put all her things back into the case, then picked up the packet of papers. She sighed, falling back onto the pillow for some late night reading...and a lot of it.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin sat around the small coffee table in Balamb's oceanside hotel. Seifer tried to pull off the "I'm soooo winning" face, but he only had a pair of twos.  
  
Fujin threw her cards on the table. Two pairs, fours and nines. Seifer threw his cards on the table, a pair. Raijin gave a triumphant guffah and threw his cards onto the table. Royal flush.  
  
Raijin's hooting laughter could probably be heard a mile away.  
  
"Raijin, do you have to be so obnoxious!" Seifer said, getting up to go downstairs to get a drink.  
  
"Aww, you're jus' mad 'cause ya lost!" Raijin said, after which he was promptly kicked in the shin by Fujin. Seifer stifled laughter.  
  
A few minutes later Seifer had finished getting his coffee from the downstairs coffee machine in the lobby.  
  
"Another game?" Raijin asked, shuffling the cards. Seifer shook his head and sat down.  
  
Everything was silent for a few moments before Fujin spoke up.  
  
"So what now?" she said. Seifer looked up.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"What are we going to do now? Spend the rest of our lives fishing in return for a room and food at this hotel?" she said. "We're not catching enough as it is. Winters coming, and the fish won't bite as much. We have to think of something else."  
  
"Well what do we know? Fighting and fishing." Seifer countered.  
  
"Then it's time we learn something." Fujin said.  
  
"I'm happy fishin'." Raijin spoke up.  
  
Seifer scowled. "Well we'll see how happy you are when the fish stop biting."  
  
"So what do you guys suggest?" Fujin said, standing up and crossing her arms.  
  
Seifer looked down at his coffee. "I'm out of ideas." he said.  
  
Fujin rolled her eyes. "So you guys are okay with starving?"  
  
"Lets go back to Garden." Raijin said.  
  
Fujin looked at Raijin like he'd just grown another head.  
  
"Oh, and while we're at it, we can grow wings and fly to the moon!" Seifer said with fake enthusiasm.  
  
"I mean it!" Raijin said. "It's not like we got anything better to do."  
  
"Raijin...really--" Fujin said.  
  
"Are you THAT thick?!" Seifer butt in.  
  
Raijin shrugged. "What about Galbadia Garden?"  
  
Seifer started to say something when Fujin cut him off. "That might be an option."  
  
Seifer snorted. "Are you guys serious? You really think we'll be accepted?"  
Fujin shrugged. "We aren't criminals. Pardoned, remember? They have no reason not to accept us."  
  
Raijin nodded. "And plus, we were on their side during the fight against Ultimecia, ya know?"  
  
Seifer's eyes narrowed. "They were on the same side as Ultimecia, dumbass."  
"I say we go." Fujin said. "Fighting is all we know. You've always wanted to become a SeeD Seifer, maybe Balamb just isn't your place. We can at least go give it a shot."  
  
"Ya, better than rottin' in this hotel, ya know?" Raijin added.  
  
"And a few minutes ago you were the one blabbing about how you wouldn't mind fishing here for the rest of your life." Seifer said to Raijin.  
  
"Well, a man can change his mind, can't he?" Raijin said.  
  
"If we're going, we need to start planning. Applications will have to be sent in to Galbadia Garden, we can't go until they've accepted us." Fujin said.  
  
"And that they never will." Seifer said.  
  
"Oh come on Seifer, brighten up a bit." Raijin said.  
  
Seifer stood up. "Go ahead, send in a few applications, one for each of us. You're both getting your hopes up for nothing." And with that said, he turned, and headed for his bed.  
  
Fujin watched him walked away, too stubborn to move. Why was Seifer acting so strangely?  
  
"I think you're scared." she said in his direction, before turning to walk into her own small room. Either he hadn't heard, or he chose not to react. Whatever the case, she regretted saying it as soon as she'd finished the sentence.  
  
Raijin patiently put the cards back into the cardboard box, then left for his own quarters.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quistis awoke to the ringing of her phone. She suddenly had the urge to slam her fist into it, but decided to yawn and rollover instead. She'd let the answering machine get it, any polite person would call later than six in the morning.  
  
Edea's melodic voice drifted over the answering machine. "Good morning Quistis. Starting today, you're "at Shumi for the remaining weeks of your vacation" according to the students. Keep a low profile, and get ready for your trip to Galbadia. Any questions will be answered in the mission details. Good luck."  
  
Quistis groaned and rolled back over to erase the message, but as she turned, she felt something wrinkle underneath her. She sat up and let out another groan when she saw it was the mission details. She'd fallen asleep reading them.  
  
She picked up the packet of now wrinkly papers and swung her foot over the side of her bed, only to meet with the contents inside the black leather briefcase.  
  
She stumbled out of bed and onto the floor and began to gather the items that had fallen off her bed and out of the open briefcase during her sleep.  
  
After everything was back in what looked like an orderly fashion, she picked up the packet of wrinkly papers, grabbed her glasses from the nightstand, and continued from where she'd fallen asleep.  
  
"--Transport--" the header read. " On Tuesday, August 13," which was today..." you will assume the role of Maylee Rinthe. This includes hair coloration, wearing the provided contacts, and complete wardrobe replacement, not to mention using your new ID. It is important that you use this ID for EVERYTHING.  
  
"Special note: Quistis, the contacts are made to match the prescription of your glasses, therefore there will be no need to bring along your glasses, as the contacts must be worn at all times.  
  
"But on to the subject, transport. At promptly three o'clock p.m. a small airship will be admitted into the parking lot. You are to meet it, using alias Maylee, and leave in it. Avoid contact with students. The airship will leave for Deling, where you will purchase your new wardrobe (using the gil inclosed). You will stay in a hotel in Deling, how fancy it is, is your choice, whatever gil leftover from your wardrobe is yours to keep and spend on whatever you like.  
  
"Next morning, at seven o'clock a.m. you will take a bus to the car rental shop on the outskirts of Deling, where another airship will pick you up and drop you off at Galbadia Garden."  
  
Quistis dropped the papers. She picked up the hair dye, looked at the color in disgust for a few moments, then headed for the bathroom.  
  
"Time to become Maylee Rinthe..." she grumbled to herself.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Raijin approached the front desk of the hotel. Clarice, the receptionist, smiled back.  
  
"Can I help you with anything, sir?" she asked cheerily.  
  
"Do ya have any applications for Galbadia Garden?" Raijin asked.  
  
"Umm...I'm sorry sir, we don't carry those types of papers. We do have a brochure concerning Galbadia Garden though!" she said, taking a brochure from under her desk.  
  
Raijin's face lit up. "Oh, lemme see..." he reached out for it.  
  
Clarice bent over the desk and began explaining different things to him, regarding the G Garden.  
  
Fujin came down the stairs and smiled when she saw Raijin. "Already on the hunt?"  
  
"Eh...they only have brochures." he said, scrating the back of his head.  
  
Fujin's pleased expression immediately dissappeared. "Well, we don't need brochures. C'mon Raijin, lets take our search elsewhere..." she sighed.  
  
Raijin waved to Clarice, then followed Fujin out the door.  
  
The two walked down the street a while, Fujin's steps confident and firm, Raijin's steps, or more accurately stomps, were hard and clumsy.  
  
"Lets check the train station." Fujin said.  
  
Raijin nodded.  
  
When they got there, the receptionist in the small ticket booth happened to be "out to breakfast". Fujin poked her head inside and looked around. In some racks were what looked to be applications.  
  
"Raijin, I've found some!" she said.  
  
"Well get 'em!" he called back.  
  
"I can't just go through the window!" she said, turned to give him a look.  
  
"Sure ya can, I'll push ya through!" he said.  
  
Fujin crossed her arms over her chest. They really needed those applications...."Alright." she said.  
  
Raijin grinned. Fujin sighed and turned around.  
  
She went in backwards, and her legs were completely inside the room, resting on the desk, when the receptionist showed up. Fujin's face reddened as she watched the woman stop dead in her tracks and raise an eyebrow at the situation.  
  
"Can...I...help you with anything?" she asked. Raijin had barely noticed she was there, and turned around startled.  
  
"Um...we were just getting the applications on your desk, ya know?"  
  
The woman gave a confused look. "Applications....?"  
  
"For Galbadia Garden." Fujin said hurriedly, trying to pull herself out of the woman's office.  
  
"Oh, yes." the woman said, pulling out her keys. She walked around to the back, and later appeared in the office. She looked at Fujin, who was now completely outside her office."And how many did you need?"  
  
"Three." Fujin said. The woman cleared her throat and handed over the papers.  
  
As soon as the papers were in Fujin's grasp, she strode away. Raijin half- ran to keep up. "Pretty embarrasing, eh Fuj?" he chuckled.  
  
Fujin grit her teeth. "Note to self, don't even consider using any of Raijin's plans ever again...." she mumbled.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
So how was it? A bit short, I know, but I'm trying! I know Raijin doesn't constantly say "ya know" and Fujin doesn't talk in all caps...but it makes them seem a lot smarter (well...Fujin anway) when they talk seemingly normal, right?  
  
And to answer a question I got. Squall and Rinoa have the media's attention because they are like heroes and role models and their wedding got them attnetion, now the new baby, people are just kinda fascinated with them, you know what I mean? Sorry for any missunderstandings.  
  
To answer another question.comment. I'm not going to make caraway an evil monster meanie guy, hehe. This is only the beginning, things will change, a lot.  
  
And yet another comment...I really can't say if Galbadia or Esthar will get Dollet. I'd kinda ruin the story, wouldn't it??? I'll hafta keep secrets to keep readers, right??? hehe ^_^  
A/N: I in NO WAY expected this many reviews! I've never gotten this many on one chap (talking about the first chap)! Thank you guys SO MUCH!!! No reviews means I shoot the story in the head, and then kick it's bloody corpse. That won't be happening to this story any time soon!!!  
  
Another A/N: Hi DToK! hehehe..... 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys! I'm SOOOO sorry I haven't updated this thing in a while, but things come up, and I've been busy with other stuff (no, I didn't fall off a cliff and hafta go get reconstructive surgury *eye twitch*) but anyway, on to what you REALLY want to read...and no more of my ramblings...  
  
It had been an hour Quistis had the smelly dye in her hair. She didn't know which she hated more, the color, or the smell. She could hardly breath with the nueasiating fumes radiating from her hair.  
  
She sat down, papers in lap cross-legged on the floor, trying to concentrate on reading more about this mission. All she'd really gone over was the preperations, who knows how she'd actually carry things out.  
  
She licked her thumb and turned the pages, ignoring most until she came to one that read "The Sabotage" at the top in big, bold print.  
  
"The Sabotage...  
  
The point of this mission is to eliminate any chance Galbadia has at taking control of Dollet. Right now, Galbadia and Esthar are negotiating for the same land. Things seem to be civil between the countries, however, this peace won't last for long.  
  
Your job is to make sure Galbadia loses, no matter what the cost. If worst comes to worst, and a new war starts, any actions necessary are to be taken. This job is not for the weak, timid, or foolish.  
  
Your fake identity, Maylee Rinthe, has been accepted to Galbadia. When you arrive, you'll be given a dorm room.  
  
From here, you are to set up the laptop given to you aboard the airship, your transport to Galbadia.  
  
Use the laptop to hack into the computer mainframe. Hacking instructions are included in this packet. Your first step will be to change negotiation and/or meeting dates/times with Dollet. This will give Esthar an advantage, more time with Dollet for negotiations.  
  
If this starts to fail, you are to input the X009 Virus into Galbadia's mainframe, eliminating any contact between Dollet and Galbadia through computers, and at the same time, deleting all Galbadia's files concerning Dollet. Again, instructions are included.  
  
If things are still not changing, and it appears as if Galbadia is going to win, you are to install the Decimation Bomb given to you along with the laptop. Set it up in your dorm, pull the fire alarm so all students evacuate the Garden, then detonate it. This will destroy Galbadia Garden, and Caraway will lose millions of gil, thus he will not have the funds to purchase Dollet. This is the last resort, and do this only when there is no other way to win. Things aren't meant to come to this unless necessary.  
  
Good luck, Quistis Trepe. We trust you'll get the job done,  
  
Cid and Edea"  
  
Quistis could hardly speak. Destroy Galbadia Garden? They wanted her to become a terrorist?! Selphie was right, this mission was a hell of a lot more dangerous than she felt comfortable doing, yet she had already accepted, and now she was dying her precious golden locks.  
  
She walked into the bathroom to wash the dye out. Two more hours, then she would have to board the airship...and things would get much more stressful.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Seifer dozed, his feet propped up on a plastic crate, his fishing pole propped up against it. He rested his head against the concrete wall behind him, trying to keep his eyes open so that maybe when a fish did bite, he'd see it.  
  
Raijin ran up, his big feet making loud stomps all the way across the dock, causing Seifer to sit up in alarm. He watched the big man run up, then stop breathless, holding his pole over his shoulder.  
  
"Me and Fujin found applications. She's back at the hotel." Raijin plopped down next to Seifer. "She said something about me sticking to what I'm better at."  
  
Seifer snickered. How sad...Fujin was making fun of his literary skills, and he hadn't even noticed.  
  
"Whats so funny?" he asked, casting his line into the water.  
  
"Did you guys get an application for me?" Seifer asked, changing the subject.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Fujin's gonna do both of ours." Raijin said.  
  
Seifer nodded, looking back into the water.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quistis finished drying her hair. The dark red she would have to get used to, but it definitly made her look different. She admired it in the mirror. The color was awful on her, but that could be just because she wasn't used to it. She shrugged, and picked up the box of contacts.  
  
"Now...lets see..." she mumbled, opening the box. She opened the little plastic wrapper around one contact, revealing a strikingly pretty green color. "Better than the dye..." she grumbled, shooting a hateful glance at her hair in the mirror.  
  
She held her eyelids wide apart with her left hand, and tried to put it in with her right forefinger. She ended up cursing to herself, blinking her eye rapidly as it watered to the point of tears. Poking your eye definitly didn't feel good.  
  
She bent closer to the mirror to try again. This time she got it in, and blinked a few times to get it centered over her iris.  
  
She opened the other one, and soon had it in with a little less trouble than last time.  
  
She blinked a few times, examining the effect the contacts had on the red hair. She had to admit, they made the hair color look a lot better with her complexion. With a change in hair and eyes, she didn't even look like the same Quistis. She couldn't say she felt like Quistis either.  
  
She sighed and glanced at the clock. One more hour. She hurriedly blow- dried her hair, put on some light makeup, and headed back into the bedroom of her dorm. It took her about thirty mins to pack all her belongings, and make sure she wasn't forgetting anything.  
  
She headed for the door, when the phone rang. It was already fifteen til three, she had to get going! She hesitated, her hand around the knob, but finally decided to answer it. She hurried over to the side-table and picked up the reciever.  
  
"Hello?" she asked.  
  
Edea's soothing voice answered. "Hello Quistis. I just wanted to wish you good luck..." she said.  
  
Quistis smiled. "Thank you Matron." she said.  
  
"I want to tell you thank you, also. You've done so much for us." Edea said.  
  
Quistis' heart melted. "Well, Dollet is more important than a few weeks of vacation, right?" Quistis said, trying to sound like she didn't really mind.  
  
Edea gave a light laugh. There was a bit of silence before she spoke again. "Be careful Quisty."  
  
Even though she knew Edea couldn't see her, she nodded anyway. "I'll be okay." she said. She heard Edea's phone click. The sound gave a final touch to everything. It was now she was just beginning to realize, no one was helping her on this mission. She was Maylee. She had to do this all alone.  
  
She reluctantly hung up her cordless phone, picked up the briefcase, and closed her dorm room door as if it were the last time she'd close it again.  
  
As she walked down the hall, she kept her head pointed slightly downward, keeping her eyes focused on the lines between the marble tiles, letting her wavy auburn hair help hide her face. She didn't know if anyone looked, because she didn't dare look anyone directly in the face. At least not here. No one knew her in Galbadia Garden. Well, maybe from her appearance in Newspapers or such, but no one really KNEW her.  
  
She walked down the corridor, turned, and into the parking lot. She looked down at her watch, ten til three. She smiled inwardly. She had always been early, for everything.  
  
She sighed in relief when she noticed there were no students dwelling in the parking lot of the Garden. She sat, holding her chin in her left palm, her legs crossed boredly, when she heard the wall rolling up, the parking lot opening.  
  
She sat up straight a gazed out at the land. Garden was in mid-flight! She had no idea they would open the parking lot in mid-flight!  
  
A small airship, about half the size of most of the vehicles in the parking lot, hovered into the garage slowly. She stood up, smoothed her skirt with her hands, and bent down to pick up her brief case.  
  
A man in Estharian uniform shut off the aircraft and stepped out. He walked towards her.  
  
"I've orders to transport a Miss Maylee Rinthe to the city of Deling. Are you Miss Rinthe?" he asked.  
  
She nodded. "Yes." She followed him back to the little plane, stealing a glance outside. It sent chills down her spine to think of what would happen if the Garden were to suddenly lurch and she were to fall out, being as how the garage door was completely rolled up.  
  
Her thoughts were broken as he took the briefcase from her hand, and shoved it into a compartment underneath the plane.  
  
"Um, make sure that latch on the bottom is shut tight. I can't lose the papers in that briefcase." she commented. He grunted some reply she couldn't even understand and slammed the door shut. He pounded his fist on it a few times, just to humor her.  
  
His rude nature seemed to fade when he took her hand to help her into the backseat. When she was situated, buckled in tight, he climbed into the front pilot's seat, lowered the top, and started the engine.  
  
The plane hummed, seemingly more sleek and quiet than most aircrafts she'd been in. She glanced back at Garden, floating slowly over Timber's snowy mountains, before turning to face the back of the pilot's head.  
  
Her journey had just begun...  
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A/N: Whew. Once again, I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update. it's been really hard on me lately, I haven't wasn't even visiting the Seiftis board for a while *gasp* but now I'm back on my feet and feeling inspired XD. Anyways, cheers!  
  
Address to Seiftis board, in case ya wanna check it out! :  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Well, here it is! Don't worry...the story DOES get better, I just don't wanna rush into things, cause that makes things worse...and about the Seiftis board, skyx, the link didn't work _ I dunno how to make it work, but the Seiftis board is an ezboard, themed with FF8, for Seiftis, or any FF8 fans. ^_^  
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Seifer walked into the small hotel at about 5:00pm. He was in the usual less-than-good mood, as he'd had not a catch after a whole afternoon of fishing. Raijin follwed him, a grin plastered on his face, proud over his bucket of fish.  
  
Seifer grumbled something to himself and tossed his fishing pole on the ground to the side. He looked up to see that Fujin was not on in the room. He noticed the bathroom door wide open, no one occupied it.  
  
"Hey what's this?" Raijin asked aloud, picking up a piece of notebook paper on a sidetable. Seifer snatched it away and looked down at it.  
  
"Seifer and Raijin,  
  
Instead of mailing the applications, I'm taking them there myself. If I take them personally, we can be sure they'll get there, and they'll get there fast. This is also an excuse to get out of our hotel room. Frankly, I can't stand the smell of fish a day longer, and I'm going to do something with my life. You ever want to know if you were accepted? Come to Garden.  
  
Fujin"  
  
It took a moment for what she'd said to sink in. Was this a challenge? She wasn't stupid. She knew that even if he didn't exactly want to go to Galbadia Garden, he'd HAVE to know if he was good enough anyway. That was just his nature, pride controlled him.  
  
He cursed under his breath and threw the letter to the floor. As it drifted down, Raijin gave Seifer a confused look, then pick it up and began reading it. Seifer grabbed a beer from the small hotel fridge, and sat down on the bed.  
  
Raijin finished reading as Seifer took his first swig of the beer, and put the letter on the sidetable. "So whata we gonna do?" Raijin asked.  
  
Seifer shrugged. "You tell me."  
  
Raijin thought over things for a minute. "Well...I say we follow her."  
  
Seifer smirked. "What's the use? Waste of money, waste of time."  
  
Raijin shook his head. "What if we do get accepted?" he asked.  
  
Seifer grit his teeth and closed his eyes. 'For the last time, we won't. There is no chance."  
  
Raijin scoffed. "Yeah, better chance of Squall winning a fight against an all-powerful sorceress, eh?"  
  
Seifer considered things for a moment. "Fine. We leave tomorrow. Have things packed, and don't sleep in.". He sighed, how would people react to Seifer Almasy, attending Galbadia Garden? He'd always tried to pretend he didn't care what others thought of him. In truth, it was probably one of his biggest concerns.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quistis sighed and stepped out of the aircraft, which landed on the outskirts of Deling. The pilot jumped out and gave the bottom hatch on the plane a hard kick. It fell open, and the briefcase tumbled out. As Quistis picked up the briefcase, she was literally amazed it hadn't just popped open during the ride.  
  
She gave the pilot a slight smile and began her walk into Deling City. Definitly not one of her more favorite places to be. Drug dealers, drunk soldiers, street prostitutes...none very unusual things to see in Deling.  
  
She walked through into the city, pass the car rental shop, and boarded one of the public buses. Not much is to be said of the bus ride. The man sitting next to her had intense body odor that made her want to throw up her lunch, but other than that, not much.  
  
She stepped off the bus in front of the Galbadian Hotel. She smiled, remembering how Rinoa cherished this place. Julia sung here, even when she was pregnant with Rinoa, or so Rinoa had told her.  
  
She stepped up to the front counter. "I'd like a room." she said, opening her purse.  
  
"That will be 100 gil." the woman at the desk said. Quistis handed over the amount necessary and took her room key. She walk into her room and threw the briefcase onto the bed, shut and locked the door, and headed back outside. At least now she was sure she had a place to stay for the night...  
  
She glanced around the streets, soaking in every bit of Deling nightly activity that made the city so...unique. Yes, unique was the word.  
  
She decided she'd better get clothes. Edea had instructed her to buy a completely new wardrobe, and besides, she hadn't brought any of her own clothes anyway. She headed for Trendy Inn, one of the more popular clothes stores in Deling.  
  
Approximately four hours later, at about 9:00pm, she found herself carrying two large shopping bags full of clothes, grumbling painfully as each step sent a pounding pain in each foot.  
  
She entered the Galbadian hotel, hair quite frizzed, makeup worn off, eyes sagging, and feet throbbing. The lower part, where people performed on Julia's stage (or so it had come to be called), was packed. It was only nine, yet she felt like a walking dead woman.  
  
She painfully climbed the stairs and stumbled into her room. She threw the bags to the side, shut and locked her door, and climbed onto the bed for a good night's sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Seifer threw the last suitcase into the back of the rental and slammed the tailgate. It was six in the morning, and the fresh feel of night still hung in the air, while the first rays of the sun began tumbling over the horizon.  
  
He ran up to the front and climbed into the passenger seat. As he shut the door, Raijin practically floored the gas, sending the truck flying down the small cobblestone road out of Balamb at what must have been twice the speed limit. No matter, it's not like they'd hit anyone.  
  
Even though Seifer would have liked to take the train, they hadn't had enough money for tickets. Lucky for them both, Raijin had befriended the car rental dealer, and the man had givin them a discount as a favor to Raijin. Apparently the same man ran the car rental place in Deling, which is where they were headed, so they could just turn it in there.  
  
About four hours later, at 11, give or take a few minutes, they came into the car rental shop hauling ass. Raijin had to floor the brakes to keep from hitting a redheaded woman.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quistis woke up, the sun hitting her face from the window. She looked over at the small bedside clock. 10:46am.  
  
"Damnit!" she swore, snapping to a sitting position. She was supposed to be at the car rental place four hours ago! She got up and hurriedly changed her clothes. No time for a shower.  
  
She grabbed the briefcase and the two shopping bags and ran downstairs, skipping steps. Her hair looked awful, she hadn't done a single thing with it. Her makeup was smeared, old makeup from last night. She probably looked like she'd just had a one night stand with some drunk Galbadian soldier. Go figure.  
  
She set the key to her room down on the counter and said she was checking out, then hurried outside.  
  
The bus headed down the street from about half a mile away. She stood, tapping her foot impatiently, and as soon as it came somewhere near what you would call a "stop" she pushed open the doors and climbed in, hauling her briefcase and huge shopping bags of clothes with her.  
  
As soon as the bus stopped she ran out and across the asphalt, headed for the shop door. She felt a twisting pang in her ankle just as she heard a snap. She slowed her running and turned around, running back to pick up her broken heel, when a car screeched in front of her.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The woman had the eyes of a petrified deer. Seifer looked over to see Rajin's face. It was whiter than he'd ever seen.  
  
"What were you thinking? Do you know how to drive?!" Seifer immediatly began yelling.  
  
"It was an accident! I didn't even see her!" Rajin defended.  
  
Seifer opened the door and narrowed his eyes and Raijin, the slammed it shut. "Hey, you okay?" he yelled at the woman. He smirked. She looked like one of Deling's hookers.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Quistis' face turned from total terror to total shock. Was this Seifer Almasy she was looking at?!  
  
She was speechless for a few seconds, then bent down, to pick up the broken piece of the heel of her shoe, and in hopes her red curls would cover her face. She couldn't have Seifer figuring it out, it would ruin the entire mission. "Um..yes.." she managed.  
  
Seifer watched to see what she was doing. "Looks like you broke something..." he said, noticing her damaged shoe.  
  
She'd picked up the piece, and had no reason to remain kneeling. She slowly stood up, then hurriedly turned around. "Yes, well, I'll be on my way." she said, not even facing him.  
  
Seifer nodded and walked back to the car. He climbed in, and shut the door.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"She okay?" Raijin asked. Seifer's eyes followed the woman, stumbling awkwardly around to the back of the rental store.  
  
"Yeah, sure..." he mumbled. Raijin looked at Seifer curiously.  
  
Seifer watched her disappear behind the building. He suddenly realized where he was and what he was doing. "Well? Go!" he said to Raijin. Raijin nodded hurriedly and pushed his foot to the gas.  
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Well?! They met!!! 


	5. Chapter 5

I know...I know...you can all throw rotten vegetables AND wet puppies at me...I've been a bad girl, and not updated for ages. Sorry :( I will make it up to you. I can't express my gratitude for all you reviewers, I've got nothing but good from everyone, and this isn't even CLOSE to the juicy parts! Thanks SOOO MUCH!!! Maybe I can repay all of you (might take a while, but hell, after this story, I AM TAKING A BREAK lol).  
Quistis got around to the back of the building, praying harder than ever, that her ride hadn't left her. If the pilot had indeed gotten impatient, this mission was probably over. She looked up, and all her hopes were shattered.  
  
Empty airship landing.  
  
She felt as if she could cry. Like things could get any worse. The thing that bothered her the most was the fact that she had blown the mission herself. There was no one responsible for the damage done, but her. In her case, taking into consideration the amount of pressure she put on herself to do the best at everything, this was a considerably big deal.  
  
She sat right down on the asphalt, brought her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them, throwing her luggage down carelessly. What was she going to do? What was she going to tell Edea? Oh, she overslept and lost her ride...nice story. Real impressing.  
  
Her stress-level doubled when the same army truck she'd almost been hit by pulled up about thirty feet away from her. She buried her head in her knees. Not him, not again...please Hyne...  
  
"Need a ride?" he called.  
  
She groaned slightly. Maybe if she ignored him, he would just go away. Just maybe.  
  
"Hey, are you alright?" he called again.  
  
She kept her face down, her forehead on her knees. Ignore...ignore...ignore...  
  
All hopes of him just forgetting about her were shot when she heard the truck door open and slam shut. She listened to his boots thump across the blacktop, and stop a few feet in front of her. Finally realizing she couldn't just wish him away, she lifted her face from her knees.  
  
"You look....bad. Sure you don't need a ride or something?" he asked.  
  
She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "I know I look bad okay! I've had a hard day, and I'd appreciate it if you would get back in your truck and go away." she said, standing up so her eyes could be at least more level with his. She couldn't keep tears from welling up in her eyes. Her headache was so bad by now, her head felt as if it would explode any minute.  
  
"No need to cop an attitude, I was just trying to help, damn." he said. "Well, me and my friend Raijin here are trying to get to Galbadia Garden. Maybe you could help by providing information on how we could get a pilot?" he asked.  
  
Great. Just great. He was going to Galbadia too. Wasn't she just having a wonderful "vacation"?! She turned and began walking away.  
  
"I take it you don't know then." he said, his voice revealing that he was losing patience.  
  
She turned on her heel. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. You hire them inside the rental shop. Unfortunatly, I can't get my ride to Galbadia, because my pre-paid, impatient, bastard of a pilot decided to just take off, because I was late, and now I'm broke!" she snapped. "So if you want one, go PAY for one."  
  
"You DO need a ride then?" he said with a smirk.  
  
It finally clicked. He may be Seifer, and he may be an ass, but he also may be her ticket to a successful mission. She could just hitch a ride...after all, she was broke. It's not like she had any other way of getting to Galbadia..."Yes." she said, finally. "I do."  
  
Three hours later, she sat one seat behind Seifer and Raijin on a a rickety, cheap airship. Must have been built during the First Sorceress War. Nevertheless, it got her off the ground, and inside Galbadia Garden, so it wasn't half bad.  
  
Not much conversation had gone on between her and the two men. Any questions were usually dodged, or answered with a simple "yes" or "no". Needless to say, they still had conversation amongst themselves.  
  
She gripped the arms of her worn-out seat as the pilot turned the airship around and headed for the Galbadia parking section. Since the Gardens' flying capabilities had been discovered, airships had been the only way on and off them. Unless, of course, Garden stopped for something, which was somewhat rare.  
  
The garage door opened automatically, sensored to detect movement in a twenty foot radius. Students never hung around in the parking garages anymore, noisy doors were a nuisance, opening every time a bird flew by.  
  
The airship touched the floor of Galbadia Garden's parking garage as she was unbuckling her seatbelt. She couldn't wait to get out of here, away from Seifer and Raijin, and into the safety and privacy of a dorm room.  
  
She climbed out after Seifer and Raijin. The pilot gave them a smile, and she gave a slight nod back, pulled her luggage out of the ship, then quickly headed for the exit. To her relief, they didn't bother to follow her, but turned at the entrance to the dormitories instead. She headed for Headmaster Martene's office.  
  
The secretary in the first office had her waiting for fifteen minutes, but she wasn't complaining. At least the mission wasn't blown. She hated to admit Seifer had saved the day. It sounded so wrong...Seifer...saving the day... Just wrong in so many ways.  
  
During her short meeting with Headmaster Martene, she'd acquired her dormitory keycard, and her student ID card.  
  
She wasted no time in heading to her dorm, taking a shower, and changing her clothes. She re-applied make-up, trying to make it as different as she could from the way she used to, as "Quistis".  
  
After all this, she finally realized she was actually very hungry. During the flight here, nerves had washed away any hungry feelings. The whole time she was dreading, going over and over in her mind, the moment he would realize who she really was. Now that that nightmare was over, she could get something to eat.  
  
She walked down to the cafeteria, and bought a salad and iced tea. She was glad to see an empty table, somewhat close to the corner, where she could eat in privacy. She sat down at it, and started in.  
  
As she ate, she re-capped the mission objectives. Sabotage Caraway's chances of getting Dollet. The more she thought about it, the harder it seemed to sound. I mean, she was only one woman. However qualified or capable she seemed, this was still going to be extremely hard.  
  
And Seifer had thrown a whole new kink into the plan. With him around, who's to say she wouldn't be figured out? What business did he have in Galbadia Garden anyways? He couldn't be attending?!  
  
She was getting a headache thinking about it all. She finally resolved to concentrating on eating her salad, and NOT thinking about it. Which, needless to say, didn't help as much as she'd anticipated. 


	6. Chapter 6

I know, I've been a bad girl again...*sigh* I only wish inspiration came in more than short spurts every now and then :( Well, it's here now, so we'd better not waste the moment, eh? ^_^  
The rest of her day had drifted by rather slowly. She'd already decided on the way here, starting in on her objectives the first day was a sure way to be suspected. new girl arrives, things go wrong, who's to blame? Duh.  
  
She figured a month would be sufficient time for her to mingle with every other student, making her as least suspitious as possible, while still getting the mission done in time.  
  
Still, she didn't fancy the idea of having to worry about Seifer for a month. She could be caught at any given moment, which of course, was not an appealing thought.  
  
She woke up next morning to the buzzing of the cheap black alarm clock, provided via Garden. A fool-proof way of ensuring the "my alarm clock didn't go off and I didn't wake up" excuse for being late to class, she suspected. One issued to every student.  
  
She pulled out the haircurlers she'd put in last night, and got dressed. She was doing everything she could to be another person, and if curling her hair might help in the slightest way, she was going to do it.  
  
As she entered Monday's class, Field Practice. She smirked, this was going to be so easy. This was a Cadet Course, one she'd taken four years ago, and even then, passed with nothing less than perfect scores.  
  
She took a seat at her desk, and watched as more and more students filed into the room, chattering about this and that. Most were only fifteen or sixteen. She felt rather out of place, until a tall, blonde, green eyed man strode in, then she just felt numb.  
  
Her heart was beating so fast she could feel it thumping against her ribcage. She quickly looked away, pretending she was reading something from her notebook, trying to hide most of her face with her hair.  
  
The bell rang, and the loudness of the classroom increased by half, which still didn't make things much quieter. Seifer slumped down into the chair behind her.  
  
A dark haired male, looking to be about age twenty-five, stood up from his chair at the desk. The class then fell to near silence. He cleared his throat, then it was completely silent.  
  
"First, I'd like to welcome our two new students. This is Maylee Rinthe," he gestured to Quistis, who glanced up and smiled, "and Seifer Almasy." he gestured to Seifer, who just gave a lazy smirk.  
  
None of the class really seemed too excited about it, so the man faced Quistis and Seifer, and continued. "You can call me Mr. Keaton." He then turned his head up to address the entire class.  
  
"As your World Beasts teacher has informed me, last Wednesday you spent studying Geezards. Breeding habits, weaknesses, strengths, etc. You should have also learned that they usually drop screws when killed?  
  
"Which brings us to today's lesson. Garden is flying over the fields near and around Galbadia's Plains, where Geezard's usually roam. We are going to hunt them, and collect the screws they drop.  
  
"Students with the most screws gain the most points, simple enough. You will be divided into groups of three, to keep things a bit challenging while still maintaining a measure of safety.  
  
"Any questions?" asked Mr. Keaton, rubbing his hands together. "Okay then." he said with a smile. "Garden will be landing shortly. Go get your weapons and meet up at the front gate in ten minutes. Any late students will just have to miss this outing, since Garden will not remain on land for any longer than necessary."  
  
With that, he walked back to his desk, and students began to rise from their desks, the talking starting to increase in volume again.  
  
Quistis stood up too, and exited silently.  
  
She showed up at the front gates about six minutes later, whip in hand, ready to take out some of her stress on a few unlucky Geezards. Fortunatly, no one was left behind, even Seifer made it in time.  
  
"Good, now that everyone's here...we can begin splitting up. I'd like our most experienced student, Zoey Hindriks, to go with Seifer and Maylee. They'll need a little more guidance than anyone else here." he said, with a know-it-all tone.  
  
Seifer smirked, he would need a little more "guidance"? He'd like to have a round with this teacher, and all of his students, at once. He'd bet his life he'd still come out on top.  
  
Quistis totally ignored his remarks about her experience, she was still froze over the fact her and Seifer were on the same team. This made things ten times worse. Spending all day...helping Seifer and this girl Zoey fight Geezards?! He could recognise her fighting style...she'd trained with him as his teacher...she was sure to be caught.  
  
It took all she had to hide the look of terror on her face. She managed a weak smile when he looked at her briefly. The fact that he hadn't shown much interest in her up until now was a slight comfort, at least she didn't -think- he suspected anything.  
  
She gripped the handle of her old chain whip tightly. She was using it to take the whole under-disguise a step further, Save the Queen still back in Balamb Garden. Those same nervous feelings on the plane were taking her body over again. She tried to take deep breaths. She had to remain calm and cool. Acting all tense and alert was a sure-fire way to get herself caught.  
  
She had to not only look like another person, but think and act like one as well. She had to hide any animousity she felt for Seifer, act like she'd just met him. For what felt like the millionth time, the words ran in her head, "not one part of this is going to be easy...". 


	7. Chapter 7

Mr. Keaton divided up the rest of them, bid them good luck, and sent them off in different directions. They were to meet back at the same spot, marked by a huge boulder, three hours later.  
  
Seifer walked over the grass about ten feet ahead of her and Zoey, taking long strides, that Quistis could tell were hard for Zoey to keep up with. They'd only started walking ten minutes ago, and the fifteen year old girl was getting out of breath.  
  
"Could you please slow down a bit?" she asked Seifer, trying to hide the annoyed tone in her voice. He glanced back briefly, turned around, and kept at the same pace.  
  
"Look, if you want to be an ass, fine. Me and Zoey will go our own way." she said.  
  
Zoey waved her hand, gesturing not to worry about it, "No, no, I can keep up. Don't want to fail this assignment over a silly thing like pace." she said with a little giggle.  
  
"I think I see a couple of Geezards over that way..." Seifer said expressionlessly, changing his direction slightly.  
  
Quistis unraveled her chain whip from the belt at her waist and when they got closer, positioned for battle, like Seifer and Zoey.  
  
"You two take that one, I'll take this one here..." Seifer called back to them, approaching one.  
  
Quistis' eyes narrowed. She couldn't say if he taking one on his own because he wanted the credit, or because he was being arrogant. Probably the latter.  
  
She swung the chain whip into a wide arch above her head, then sent it lashing across the geezard's back. Another lashed followed before it could counterattack. Zoey cast a Thundaga on it, and it was down before Seifer's was.  
  
Seifer wiped the slimy green geezard blood dripping from Hyperion onto the grass, and swung it up so the dull side rest on his shoulder. Quistis stepped forward to search around the bodies for screws, Zoey likewise.  
  
"You're pretty good with that whip." Seifer said. Quistis stopped breathing for a second, just froze. "Um...yeah..." she muttered, pretending to search for more screws. Her mind was really in other places, worrying about other things.  
  
Once they'd recovered fourteen dropped screws, they began searching for more geerzards.  
  
"So, where are you from?" Seifer asked Quistis.  
  
"Oh...um...Winhill." she said. Seifer's eyebrows raised slightly.  
  
"Really? Didn't know they had decent women there..." he smirked slightly.  
  
Quistis rolled her eyes. It probably would have offended her, if she was from Winhill. "I'll take that as a compliment..." she said. He smiled.  
  
"Ooh! I see some over there!" Zoey shouted, pointing.  
  
"Don't scare them away..." Seifer muttered. Quistis stifled a giggle as Zoey ran off toward them. She was obviously too caught up in herself to even notice Seifer's comment. This left her and Seifer to walk the next hundred yards or so together.  
  
Quistis thought this would be a good time to find out just what Seifer had been up to lately, just out of curiousity. "Weren't you the one who backed Edea at that parade?"  
  
The smile on Seifer's face immediately vanished. "How would you know that?"  
  
"Well, it -was- a parade, and I just happened to attend. Like a thousand other people." she lied.  
  
"People change." he said back, then began walking forward at a faster pace, probably to avoid anymore questions.  
  
"Hey! I was just wondering!" she yelled at him, now ten feet ahead. "Apparently not -everyone- changes..." she muttered to herself, then ran the rest of the way, past Seifer, up to Zoey and the geezards.  
  
"Took you long enough!" Zoey shouted.  
  
"Next time, don't leave without us." Seifer retorted, approaching them, Hyperion in his right hand.  
  
He took one down with a single swipe.  
  
Quistis smirked. He acted like it was something to be proud of. Oh...yeah...look at me...I'm so tough, killing these ferocious geezards in one hit...  
  
She cracked the whip around the neck of another, bringing him down in a second.  
  
"You guys are really good. Have you had training before coming to Garden or something?" Zoey asked after casting a Watera.  
  
"You could say that." they answered simultaneously. They glanced at eachother briefly, then commenced hacking away at the geezards again.  
  
This time, they brought down seven geezards, giving them a grand total of twenty seven screws.  
  
"How long has it been?" Quistis asked.  
  
Zoey looked at a watch around her wrist. "About an hour and fifteen minutes." she answered.  
  
"And Instructor Keaton told us three hours right?" Quistis said.  
  
"Yep." Zoey answered.  
  
Quistis groaned. "It's -so- hot..."  
  
"You guys want to take a break?" Zoey suggested.  
  
"Breaks are only a waste of time." Seifer replied stiffly.  
  
"Are you still irritated about earlier?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Damnit!" Zoey swore. Quistis turned to look. Zoey was on the ground, holding her ankle.  
  
"What happened?" Quistis asked, kneeling down to inspect her ankle.  
  
"I stepped into that stupid pothole and twisted my ankle!" Zoey said, her jaw clenched and eyes shut tight, fighting the pain.  
  
"Are you sure it's twisted?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Yes I'm sure! It hurts like fuck!" Zoey shouted.  
  
"Hey! Maylee didn't create the hole for you to trip in, so don't take out your anger on her." Seifer said. "What are we going to do now?"  
  
"Well we have to get her back." Quistis said, still kneeling.  
  
Seifer threw up his hands and turned around. "There goes the assignment! And my first one! Damnit! Damnit all!" he swore.  
  
Quistis stood up. "Hey, it's not her fault--"  
  
Seifer turned around and cut her off. "Well if she would have been watching where she was walking--"  
  
"I thought you said people could change?!" Quistis cut him off.  
  
Seifer's eyes narrowed. "And what has that got to do with this?!" he asked.  
  
Quistis went white. She wasn't supposed to know Seifer before this. She should have never said that. "Nevermind." she said. "Are you going to help me or not?"  
  
Seifer groaned and walked over to kneel on the other side of Zoey. "What do I need to do?" he asked.  
  
"Well, we need to wrap something around her ankle to keep it from moving, that will lessen the pain. Then we need to carry her back, she obviously can't walk, we can take turns carrying her." Quistis said.  
  
Seifer shook his head. "You just wrap it up, I'll carry her back. She can't be that heavy..." he said. She was only about Selphie's size.  
  
"What should I wrap it with?" Quistis asked. Seifer shrugged. Quistis took off her long-sleeved, button-up overshirt, she wore a spagetti-strap top underneath "Where's your weapon?" she asked.  
  
Seifer passed her Hyperion. She cut off one of the sleeves as handed it back. "Thank you." she said to Seifer, then turned to Zoey. "I think this will do for now..." she said, wrapping it around Zoey's ankle, and finishing with a knot. "Okay, all set. Seifer?"  
  
He nodded, and hoisted her up easily. "I'm so sorry for all the trouble..." Zoey apologized, almost in tears. "I'm sorry I ruined the mission...I'm so sorry..."  
  
"Relax. There'll be others." Seifer replied.  
  
Quistis smiled.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
Took me long enough, eh? -__- sorry guys. Exams are coming, and I've been hitting the books more than ever. 


	8. Chapter 8

Later that night Quistis sat at a small table in the cafeteria, alone, picking at her pasta with a plastic spork.  
  
Seifer carried Zoey all the way back to where Mr. Keaton was, Quistis behind, and the four of them had to wait out the remaining hour and a half or so for the other students to arrive. Needless to say, they failed the assignment miserably, but, as Mr. Keaton said "Such is the risk we take when we battle wild monsters."  
  
She stabbed at her pasta even harder. Mr. Keaton was such an ass, not even the slightest bit sympathetic for Zoey. All he could do is "tsk tsk tsk" to himself and mutter about how much of a grade drop this was.  
  
She got up and dumped the remains of her dinner in the nearest trash, and left the cafeteria. She wasn't very hungry in the first place.  
  
She walked down the nearly empty corridors, the heels of her boots clicking on the tile floor, causing a small echo. She opened her purse and took out her watch. It was nearly nine, yet it seemed to be at least twelve. She was so tired, nothing sounded better than her dorm bed, even as stiff as they were.  
  
She stepped into the elevator and pressed the number two, the level the dorms were on.  
  
She wondered if she should go check on Zoey. She hadn't seen her since she'd been carried off to the dorm on a stretcher.  
  
The elevator dinged and she stepped out. She could find out which dorm Zoey was in with a simple call... She removed her cellphone from her purse and dialed.  
  
"Hello, Galbadia Garden Main Office. May I help you?" Ms. Spring answered.  
  
"Yes, I'd like to know what Cadet Zoey Hindriks' dormitory number is?" Quistis asked.  
  
"Hmm...just a second..." Quistis could hear the clicking of keys. "She's in room number 406." Ms. Springs answered.  
  
"Thank you." Quistis said.  
  
"You're welcome. Have a nice evening." Ms. Springs answered. Quistis heard the phone click, she hung up. She pressed the red button on her cell and put it back into her purse.  
  
She turned left and began walking down the corridor. "388...400...402...404...406!" she murmured to herself. She knocked on the door. "Zoey? Are you in?"  
  
"Who is it?" a girl called from the other side of the wooden door.  
  
"It's Maylee, can I come in?" Quistis replied.  
  
"Oh, sure! The door's open!"  
  
Quistis turned the knob and stepped in to see Zoey laying on her bed, her ankle and foot braced with a proper bandage, resting on two pillows stacked together.  
  
Zoey smiled. "Come and take a seat!" she patted on the side of her bed.  
  
Quistis smiled back. "I don't see how you can still be so cheerful after such a rough day."  
  
Zoey waved her hand dismissively. "Ahh...it'll heal, no worries." Quistis laughed. "I'm just grateful Seifer was around to tote me all the way back! Oh, and I'm sorry about your shirt..."  
  
It was Quistis' turn to wave her hand. "Don't worry about it-"  
  
"No! Really, I'll pay you back!" Zoey cut in.  
  
Quistis laughed. "Hey, I'm more worried about your ankle then my shirt! And besides, it doesn't fit me that well anyway..."  
  
"Well, judging from the amount of times Seifer looked at it, to him it probably looked like it fit just fine..." Zoey said, flashing a mischeivious smile.  
  
Quistis stopped laughing. "What?"  
  
"You couldn't tell?!" Zoey asked, obviously suprised. "He was looking at you all afternoon! You guys would look so cute together! You should ask him to the dance tomorrow! Or even better, maybe he'll ask -you-..."  
  
Quistis barely listened as Zoey rambled on. Seifer was looking at -her-?! Either he was into her, as Zoey seemed to think, or he was -onto- her. She couldn't decide what the lesser of the two evils ultimately was. If he was into her, he would eventually be onto her. Seifer might be an arrogant, egotistical, belligerent asshole...but he was no idiot.  
  
Quistis gave a brief smile and nodded. "I don't think I'll go to the dance Zoey. I think I should go now, I don't know about you, but I'm wore out."  
  
Zoey sighed. "You're missing out on a chance with such a dreamy guy though! You don't have to go -with- him...I mean, maybe if you just went-"  
  
Quistis sighed. "Zoey, you have good intentions, but I wouldn't want to touch that man with a ten-foot pole."  
  
Zoey's look of excitement quickly faded to disappointment. "Alright...well, goodnight then Maylee! Thanks for coming to see me!"  
  
Quistis smiled. "Goodnight Zoey, and you're welcome."  
  
She shut the door and headed back down the corridor, to her own dormitory.  
  
She was already taking a liking to Zoey...she had to admit, the girl reminded her of one of her own best friends, Selphie. But if this girl put a kink in the plan by encouraging contact between her and Seifer...she didn't know what she would do.  
  
Tell her? Too risky. Kidnap her to keep her quiet until the mission was complete? Way too risky. Avoid her? If that's what her mission required of her...she might have too. She just didn't know if she had the heart to do that to a little cadet like Zoey. 


	9. Chapter 9

The days droned on and before Quistis knew it, the night of the dance had come around.  
  
Zoey had come knocking. As Quistis predicted she would. And she hadn't hesitated to tote her friends along also.  
  
Of course, Quistis was in no mood to dance. Especially not if Seifer might attend, and according to Zoey, there was a chance he would ask her to dance.  
  
Still, he hadn't asked her to go to the dance with her...and that was something she would normally be happy about, yet she wasn't. Maybe he wasn't interested in her, maybe he was suspicious of her.  
  
She'd declined Zoey's persistent begging earlier. Of course, the girl had been dissappointed, but dissappointing Zoey was not on her list of "do not's".  
  
She grabbed her purse and headed for the cafeteria for some tea. Hopefully the place would be remotely empty, and she could drink her tea in peace. Otherwise, it was back up to the small, stuffy, suffocating dormitory. She certainly missed her dormitory in Balamb...  
  
She was down inside the cafeteria two a three minutes later. There couldn't be more than twenty students inside, all scattered throughout the spacious place. She walked to the counter, bought a cup of tea, and took a seat at an empty table, situated quite a way from everyone else in the place.  
  
Taking a sip, she scanned the room. Most of the people in the cafeteria were either dorks, or antisocial, as this was supposedly one of the biggest dances this year at Galbadia.  
  
Just as her eyes passed the door-frame, none other than the ex-knight himself strode in. She smirked. It was just like him not to go to a dance. He always went to the Balamb ones, but that was usually because it was required, what with being head of the disciplinary committee.  
  
He glanced around the room, running a hand through his short blonde hair, then walked to the counter.  
  
So he was ordering something. Great. It was either down here with him, or back up to the stuffy little torture chamber. Before she could make a decision, she saw Fujin come in, Raijin in tow.  
  
So they were here too? Oh, just wonderful. But how could she be so thick headed not to see this coming? Seifer, without his little posse? -Impossible-.  
  
Just then Fujin shot her a glare that could kill Ruby Dragons. What was her problem? Quistis didn't care to stick around and find out. She was leaving. Seifer she could have handled, but she didn't much like the idea of being in the same room with Fujin on a rampage.  
  
She grabbed her cup and headed for the door. Look straight ahead. Not too far...  
  
"Hey Maylee." Seifer said.  
  
She stopped, heart racing. Behind her were Seifer, Raijin, and Fujin. She turned slowly. "Hello Seifer."  
  
"So this is the girl you were talking about, Seifer?" Fujin said to Seifer, but kept her gaze locked on Quistis.  
  
"You're not going to the dance either, eh?" Seifer asked, ignoring Fujin's question.  
  
Quistis glanced at Fujin, then back at Seifer. "Um, no. I was just after some tea."  
  
"Oh, alright" Seifer said. There was an uncomfortable pause, then he spoke up again. "Oh, damn, I forgot. These are my friends, Fujin and Raijin."  
  
Quistis smiled at each. She knew them well enough. Of course, her smile only attracted a slight head nod from Fujin. At least Raijin was polite enough to smile back. "Hello." she replied.  
  
"So what are you just going to go up to your dorm and spend the rest of the night alone?" Seifer asked.  
  
Quistis managed to hold in a groan. "Actually, yes."  
  
"Well why don't you just hang out with us for a while?" Raijin offered.  
  
She managed a smile. "No thanks, I'd better get going. I wouldn't want to...intrude..." she glanced at Fujin. Oh, great excuse Trepe. That sounded very convincing.  
  
"No, please, we'd like to get to know you better." Fujin said, her voice sounding more malicious than friendly.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm just really tired." she said, and turned around.  
  
"Oh, well see ya." Seifer said.  
  
"Yeah, you too." she said as she walked out the door.  
  
A few minutes later she was up in her dorm. Her very small, shitty dorm.  
  
She sat her cup of tea on the nightstand and laid down on her bed.  
  
Why was Fujin being such a bitch anyway? Maybe she's just jealous. Of course, she never seemed to have a deeper relationship with Seifer than a loyal friend.  
  
Or even worse, Fujin could be suspicious of her? Maybe she recognised her? If she suspected anything...Seifer would know about it. The whole 'posse' would know. Steering clear of Fujin had now definitly become a must.  
  
Seifer, on the other hand, didn't seem to be a threat. Nevertheless, she couldn't risk the mission. But she had to admit, she was dying to find out what Seifer had been up to during the few weeks after Time Compression.  
  
She remembered the meeting that took place, like it had happened yesterday. Oh, the headaches that had brought.  
  
That was the meeting that would decide Seifer's fate. Of course, he wasn't present. It was fairly small, actually. Only her, Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Selphie, Zell, Edea, Cid, and Martine. Squall came in with full intentions of locking Seifer away, but fortunatly Rinoa persuaded him to have a little mercy on "the poor guy".  
  
Poor guy. Quistis smirked. He didn't look so poor now. He acted like he'd actually grown up a bit. Of course, Seifer Almasy would always be Seifer Almasy.  
  
In the end, he was granted freedom, but on a tight parole. Edea loved him too much to let anyone lock him away. After being reminded of their childhood by Irvine, Quistis couldn't say she didn't care for him either. "Lapdog" or not, he had still been one of them.  
  
Which made things all the more confusing. Did -he- remember where he'd spent his childhood? She wondered how it must have felt...standing up against the only people he thought he could have trusted, alone. Of course, he had Raijin and Fujin, but they didn't have the same connection to Edea that he did.  
  
She was content with how things turned out. It's not what she would have wished, but life will throw rocks at you, and sometimes all you can do is dodge them. 


	10. Chapter 10

Quistis sat in Field Practice that next Monday. Right in front of Seifer. Oh yay.  
  
The bell rang. Mr. Keaton stood up and walked around to the front of his desk, carrying a big book. "Get out your books, " he said to the class, flipping his own open " and turn to page fifty-three."  
  
Various sighs and mutterings of complaint could be heard. One student near the back asked why they weren't leaving Garden for practice in a whiney voice.  
  
Mr. Keaton sighed. "Stop it already, you sound like children." The class quieted a bit. "We're not going out on land because Headmaster won't land Garden. Want to jump out?"  
  
"Why won't he land Garden?" a girl a few seats to the side of Quistis asked.  
  
Mr. Keaton's attention turned over to her. "He said you'll be notified later."  
  
"But do -you- know?" she retorted.  
  
"That isn't any of your business. Now open your book Ms. Fledger." he said. She rolled her eyes and flipped over the hard cover of the book. He sighed and turned back to the class. "Page fifty-three, answer the questions and bring your paper to me when your done."  
  
Quistis dug a pen out of her purse and grabbed a piece of paper from the basket underneath the desk. She was midway through the first question when the intercom dinged. A man's voice resounded from the small speaker on the wall.  
  
"I regret to inform all SeeDs and Cadets that Esthar has declared war on Deling. We are in league with Deling, so this means that this is war for us to. I'm sorry."  
  
Another ding was heard, signifying the end of the announcement. A ding that seemed too cheery for such news. The class was silent.  
  
Quistis stared down at her desk blankly, digesting this new information.  
  
Balamb was an ally to Esthar. Trabia too. Balamb...Squall and the others...her...Galbadia...Esthar...Laguna...  
  
Did they forget about her?! She was nineteen and very applicable to be drafted and shipped off to kill some of her own kind, Balamb SeeDs, Balamb people. If Esthar declared the war, that meant Laguna agreed with the idea. A country couldn't declare a war against their president's will!  
  
This totally destroyed her plans for the mission. Could she even finish the mission? Not if she was somewhere else, not if they drafted her.  
  
She felt like she was going to vomit all over her textbook.  
  
"Mr. Keaton I need to go..." she mumbled as she stood up and headed for the door. No one stopped her.  
  
She walked down the hall. The foreign walls and tile reminded her of how alone she was in this place. For one second, she never wondered what she would do if something like this happened. Where would she turn? She couldn't go home. She couldn't even contact home.  
  
Tears began to well up in her eyes.  
  
Someone grabbed her wrist. She turned. Seifer.  
  
"What's wrong? Why'd you leave?"  
  
"Leave me alone." she said quietly, pulling her wrist from his grip. She turned and continued walking.  
  
"Well whatever it is, running isn't the answer." he said.  
  
She stopped and turned around. "I'm not running." she said bitterly. "I have no where to run. And what do you know?! You don't know me, you don't know what I'm going through!"  
  
"I never said I did!" he retorted angrily.  
  
"Argh! Just let me deal with my problems!" she yelled, walking faster down the corridor.  
  
"You have a lot to learn." he called out before turning and walking the opposite way.  
  
She walked into the girl's bathroom and slammed the door shut. The loud bang echoed off the pink tiles.  
  
She swung open one of the stall doors and fell to her knees, retching into the toilet bowl. Her chest heaved over and over. She closed her eyes tight, tears squeezing to the edges of her eyelids.  
  
Soon nothing would come up. Wave after wave of pain went through her ribcage. She couldn't stop gagging, even though it hurt so much she was crying. She struggled to breathe deeply, and soon sat back, leaning against the wall of the stall.  
  
It hurt to breathe. She could taste and smell the vomit in her mouth. She stood up weakly and stumbled over to the sink to wash out her mouth and face.  
  
She looked up into the mirror, water dripping from her face. She looked so tired and worn. Her black eyeliner was smeared down her cheeks.  
  
She was beginning to realize that she couldn't do this alone. She wasn't superhuman. They couldn't expect her to bring down Galbadia Garden by herself, amidst war. The mission was over, and she'd failed.  
  
She had to focus on getting herself out of this place. She couldn't be here anymore.  
  
The bell rang. She picked up her purse and strode out of the bathroom. Keeping her face low she walked straight to her dorm. Class didn't matter, Seifer didn't matter, the mission didn't matter. She was packing tonight. 


	11. Chapter 11

Quistis sat in the waiting room outside Headmaster Martine's office. She felt much better after a shower and a change of clothes. Her suitcases were packed and at her feet.  
  
"The Headmaster will see you now." the secretary said after hanging up the phone on her desk.  
  
Quistis smiled politely and stepped into Martine's office. He was sitting at his desk, his hands folded over eachother on his desk.  
  
"Have a seat, Ms. Rinthe." he said, motioning to the chair on front of his desk.  
  
She shook her head. "No thank you, I'm fine."  
  
"Well okay. How can I help you?" he said.  
  
"I'm leaving Garden. I need a way off. I don't know how they do things here at Galbadia, do you rent pilots or--". She paused, he put his hand up to silence her.  
  
"I'm going to need your I.D. number, Rinthe." he said, turning his attention over to his computer.  
  
"19436." she said uncertainly.  
  
He clicked the mouse a few times, then typed something in. A frown spread over his face. He turned back to her. "I'm afraid leaving isn't an option."  
  
"What?!" Quistis said, her eyes wide.  
  
"Well your profile says you're nineteen. In the event of war involving Galbadia Garden, students eighteen and over are not permitted to leave without the Headmaster's consent. It's all in the handbook." he said.  
  
"But I have too, I have to get home--"  
  
"Please, Rinthe, I've heard enough excuses and sob stories for one day. I haven't let anyone run yet, and I'm not going to start." he said sternly.  
  
She swallowed hard. It was hard not to launch herself over the desk and choke him to death. "I'm not running, I'm not afraid. I need to go."  
  
"Dismissed." he said loudly.  
  
She stared into his eyes for a few seconds before turning and striding out, slamming the door behind her. She grabbed her suitcases and headed back up to her dormitory to unpack her things.  
  
She was halfway through the second suitcase when the intercom dinged. She recognized the voice as Martine's. "All students, SeeDs and Cadets alike, age eighteen and over are to meet in the auditorium this evening at seven. Uniforms required."  
  
She narrowed her eyes at the little speaker box above her door his voice came from. She wished she had Irvine's shotgun so she could blow it out.  
  
She debated over whether or not she would even go to the meeting. Although chances were it was about this whole war thing, and she needed to know as much as she could. Now that going home was nearly out of the question, unless she learned how to fly an airship, she needed to work out her next plan of action.  
  
===Later===  
  
Quistis sat in one of the red velvet chairs of Galbadia's auditorium. She had been here once before, when they were hunting Edea, when Seifer attacked Balamb Garden. It seemed so long ago.  
  
"Couldn't get out eh?" a voice said from behind her right shoulder.  
  
She twisted her head around to see who it was. "How do you know I tried to leave?" she asked Seifer.  
  
"I saw you on your way up to Martine's office with some suitcases. Lucky guess." he said with a shrug.  
  
She smiled. "More like an educated guess."  
  
Seifer climbed over the empty seat next to her, then sat in it, draping his arms on the back of the seats. "How do you manage to see me so much anyway? Everytime I leave my dorm you seem to notice." she said.  
  
"Well it's hard to miss your bright red hair..." he said, then leaned over toward her, "...not natural though, is it?" he whispered.  
  
She looked back at him, eyes wide. "What makes you say that?!"  
  
He grinned. "You've got roots blondie."  
  
Her right hand flew to the top of her head. "Is it really noticable?!"  
  
"Not really I guess." he said, looking back toward the stage. "You'd make a better blonde anyway."  
  
"I hate blonde hair." she lied. "I can't stand it."  
  
"Oh?" he asked.  
  
She suddenly realized his hair was blonde. "Oh, for me! It looks awful on me...you make a good blonde though."  
  
He just grinned and changed the subject."So I guess he didn't let you go? Or did you change your mind?"  
  
"Oh Martine? He said I couldn't go because of the war." she said. "And why are you being so nosy? I thought I told you to worry about your own problems!"  
  
"Hey calm down, just wondering." he said defensively.  
  
At that moment Martine walked onto the stage. Everyone stopped talking almost immediately. "Thank you all for your patience and cooperation in this time we need it most." he said from behind the podium. "As you've all been informed, Galbadia is officially at war with Esthar.  
  
"You all know Deling and us are very tight allies. Their war is our war, and vice versa. I hope it doesn't come as a shock to you, that you'll all be leaving Garden soon. We've agreed to send every student of adult age.  
  
"Galbadian soldiers are on their way to Esthar as we speak. You don't have to worry about being there, I've made a deal with the President of Deling that no students are to be sent to Esthar. You'll be stationed in Dollet, fighting off Estharian soldiers. Your job is to keep the city in Galbadian control. Soldiers will be there also, but not many, Deling can't spare many. This is, for the most part, in our hands.  
  
"You'll all be issued three Galbadian soldier uniforms. They provide more protection than our SeeD and Cadet uniforms. They are to be worn at all times while on duty.  
  
"If Dollet's own forces give any trouble, they are to be silenced. This matter is no longer negotiable. Dollet is too weak to fight us off, and will be taken by force. Our only competition is with Esthar.  
  
"I'd like you all to pack necessary things, weapons included, tonight. Please keep it down to one suitcase per person, you can leave most of your things in your dormitory. Garden will land just outside Dollet and you will be stepping off tomorrow morning at six.  
  
"If there are no questions, you are dismissed." he said. The room was silent. Martine walked away from the podium and behind the curtains.  
  
"So we're going to be in Dollet." Quistis said to herself. It wasn't so bad. At least she wouldn't be on Garden, should Balamb attack. Maybe she could even run from Dollet to Balamb. Ma Dincht lived there and would surely hide her...  
  
"I'm just glad to be doing something with myself." Seifer said, looking down at the ground.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
"Fishing is only amusing the first week or so. After that it's kind of boring." he said.  
  
She laughed. "You fish?"  
  
"Did." he said. "Fujin convinced me to come here. Mixed blessing."  
  
There was an awkward silence. They watched the other students crowding around the door. The scene oddly reminded Quistis of the hotdog lines back at Balamb. Lines that were more like mobs. It reminded her of Zell, and she grinned.  
  
"What are you grinning about?" Seifer asked, looking back at her.  
  
"Oh, that just reminded me of something." she said with a wave of her hand.  
  
"Oh." he said. He started to say something, then paused, looking like he was trying to find the right words. "Hey...um....why did news of the war upset you so badly?" he asked.  
  
Her smile faded. "I'm not afraid. I mean, I'm nervous, but that's not why." she said.  
  
"What, you have family or friends in Esthar or something?" he asked.  
  
"You could say that." she said quietly.  
  
"So you're on the wrong side of things aren't you?" he said.  
  
"Heh, yes, I am." she said, managing a smile.  
  
"Well it wasn't the wisest idea to join a Garden Esthar is generally against in the first place." he said, looking at the ground.  
  
"No, I guess it wasn't." she said.  
  
Most of the crowd was gone already. He stood up. "Well we should probably get going."  
  
"Yes, we should." she said, standing up also. She followed him out the door and down the corridor. They parted ways when she turned to go into her dorm.  
  
It was amazing how polite he could be when he thought she was someone else. Or maybe he'd just grown up a bit? 


	12. Chapter 12

Five fourty-five next morning Quistis stood at the front gate in her crisp Cadet uniform, holding her smallest suitcase, containing a couple of outfits, basic hygienic necessities, and the rest of her gil. Students littered area, at least a hundred, and twice that many were expected to come.  
  
She looked around, and couldn't see Seifer. He would probably be late anyway, it was just in his nature...  
  
Headmaster Martine pushed through the crowd, and to the front.  
  
"Everyone, try to keep closer together!" he yelled. "We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes, so I hope you have everything you intend on taking! It will be a few miles walk to Dollet so I hope you didn't pack heavy!"  
  
Quistis turned her back and rolled her eyes. As if everyone could hear him. She suddenly saw Seifer pushing through the crowd, Fujin and Raijin following. She turned and began walking to the right, in hopes they wouldn't see her.  
  
"Hey Rinthe, where are you headed?" Fujin called through the crowd.  
  
Damn.  
  
Quistis turned. "I was just going to...get some water." she said with, mustering up a half smile.  
  
Fujin's lips curled into a smirk. "But we only just got to meet in the cafeteria. I'd love to spend more time with you."  
  
Quistis was about to respond, when Martine started yelling again. "Alright, Galbadia is landing in the ocean. Dollet is sending out some small motor ships to transport everyone from here to the city."  
  
Students were pushing forward and whining about not beind able to hear. Someone jabbed Quistis in the back. She closed her eyes tight and kept composure.  
  
"When you reach the city, there should be a table with a few Galbadian soldiers passing out uniforms. Take three. Proceed to the next table, and more soldiers will give you your stations." he yelled louder. "Okay here we go!"  
  
Ocean mist rose into the air and floated down around them. Garden had landed. Quistis rose up on the tips of her toes to look over the crowd, and saw Dollet, a few miles away. She could also see the small ships coming toward them, some still at the dock.  
  
A few minutes later people pushed and shove to get onto the boats. Martine's screaming about being "orderly" could be heard in the background.  
  
Soon it was Quistis' turn to board a boat. She heaved her suitcase up into her arms and stepped into the metal military ship, ducking under the small doorframe. She was the first to board this one, so the hull was empty.  
  
There were two parallel metal benches, each on one wall, inside the ship. She took a seat on the left bench, all the way at the end. She situated her suitcase underneathe the bench as more people filed in.  
  
She looked up at the door to see Seifer climb in, having to stoop to practically half his height to fit through the door, not to mention walk like he had a hunchback so he could make it to the bench. He glanced around, then took the empty spot next to her.  
  
Thank Hyne the ship was full, or Fujin and Raijin might have tagged along.  
  
She crossed her arms and avoided eye contact. She was not in the mood to talk to him. He didn't seem too chipper either, the look on his face said enough.  
  
One of the girls across from Quistis was bawling into her hands. The girl next to her stared down at her feet.  
  
She didn't know if anyone could tell, but her insides felt like they were churning. She rested her head in her hands warily.  
  
The ride was fairly short, and Quistis felt the ship's speed slowly decrease to a halt. The metal door swung open and a Galbadian soldier stood in the doorway.  
  
"Out everyone." he said, motioning with his hand for them to follow. Students closer to the door stood up first, grabbing their suitcases and duffel bags. She sat up and moved her hands to her lap.  
  
Quistis felt someone's hand take hers and give it a reassuring squeeze. She looked down to see Seifer's hand over hers. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. She could feel his hot breath on her skin. "You're going to be fine. We'll get you out of this."  
  
She looked over at him. His eyes actually gave off a kind of warmth from this close. They looked so deep. "What do you mean 'we'?" she whispered.  
  
He grabbed his suitcase and pulled her to her feet and toward the door. She grabbed her suitcase, and he led her out into the crowd. They walked to the edge, where the people weren't so pushy and loud, and he turned around to face her.  
  
"You don't want to be here do you?" he asked.  
  
"I'm fine." she said stiffly.  
  
"Bullshit." he said.  
  
She looked up at him, startled. "What do you mean 'bullshit'?!"  
  
"You're lying to me. I can tell." he said.  
  
"How?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.  
  
"There's something strange about you, and the fact that I can't put my finger on it, is bothering me." he said.  
  
"What has that got to do with me lying?!" she asked impatiently.  
  
"You're holding something back. I can see it in your eyes." he said.  
  
"Just leave me alone from now on!" she said, turning away.  
  
He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. "Oh no, you're not running. Not without a fight."  
  
She shoved him away. "Back off Seifer!"  
  
He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss. It was like an explosion erupted within her soul, burning her, melting her at her core. She wanted to push him away, but she couldn't pull her lips away. She felt a million emotions swimming around inside her. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to laugh. Everything was spinning, making her dizzy, but this kiss kept her from falling down.  
  
She placed her hands against his chest and softly pushed herself away. Her lips tingled lightly, her eyes closed. She swallowed hard as a tear rolled down her cheek. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him.  
  
The last thing she saw was the look in his eyes. She felt herself falling, but someone caught her. The world faded to black. 


	13. Chapter 13

Quistis' head rolled back, and she started to fall. Seifer grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her toward him. He shook her lightly, in panic.  
  
"Maylee? Maylee?! Holy shit..." he hoisted her up into his arms and looked around in panic.  
  
"Someone call an ambulance!" he shouted over the noise of the crowd. Some students looked over at him, their eyes growing wide "Hurry it up damnit!"  
  
One girl a few feet away dug into her pocket. "Hyne, that's Maylee! I have a cellphone!" she said to Seifer.  
  
He stepped toward her. "Dial, hurry, I don't know what's wrong with her."  
  
The girl dialed 911 and held the phone against her ear, her hand shaking slightly. "Hello? I need an ambulance right now!"  
  
There was a voice on the other end. Seifer looked from the girl to Quistis impatiently.  
  
"I'm at the dock!" the girl said hurriedly, glancing at Seifer. "I don't know she passed out or something! Does it matter?! I need one -now-!"  
  
She put her phone back into her pocket and stepped closer. "Did she just faint?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." he said. "Is someone coming?!"  
  
The girl nodded. "They said they'll be here in a minute."  
  
"Thank you." he said to the girl.  
  
"No problem." the girl said. "I just hope she's alright..."  
  
"You know her?" he asked.  
  
"Zoey introduced us the night of the dance. We offered to take her with us, but she didn't want to go."  
  
"Oh." he said. He could hear sirens from a distance, and a few seconds later, an ambulance pulled up to the edge of the dock. He pushed through the crowd, and over to it.  
  
Paramedics climbed out of the back, then pulled out a stretcher. "Put her on this."  
  
He laid her onto the stretcher. The two paramedics hoisted it up into the back of the ambulance, and climbed in. Seifer followed.  
  
"Who are you?!" one asked impatiently as the other slid a needle into her wrist, preparing for an IV.  
  
"A friend." he said to the man.  
  
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asked.  
  
"We were on the dock, and she just fainted all of the sudden." he said.  
  
The paramedic nodded. "It's probably nothing serious. Heat, exhaustion, or maybe she's not eating enough. There's a ton of causes. We'll put her in a room and let her rest a while, monitoring her heart rate and blood pressure and things."  
  
Seifer nodded. "So it's not a stroke or anything?"  
  
"Probably not. We'll run some tests. How's her blood pressure?" he asked the other paramedic.  
  
"Just a tad high, but that's not anything to worry about." he answered.  
  
The ambulance stopped, and Seifer opened the back doors and stepped out. The two medics stepped out also, then slid the stretcher out, folding down the metal legs. One pushed the stretcher, and the other the IV machine.  
  
He followed them into the hospital, and into an emergency room.  
  
"You can stay in here with her if you like. We're going to let the machines monitor her for a while, and the IV is pumping more fluid into her system. We'll unhook everything and move her into a room once we're done." one of them said. Seifer nodded, and they left the room.  
  
He grabbed a small wooden stool from the corner of the room and pulled it up next to Quistis.  
  
Now that they'd told him it was nothing really serious, he felt much better.  
  
He didn't know why he kissed her. Something about the way she yelled at him. He definitly didn't regret it. It was one of the most, if not the most, intense feelings he had exerienced in his life.  
  
His gaze moved over every feature of her face. Being around her gave him nonstop deja vu. A natural high. She was such a beauty, so calm and peaceful. Even in an emergency room, with wires stuck into her wrist, she gave off a feeling of security. One of the very few people he felt he could trust.  
  
One of the medics came back in. Seifer looked up abrubtly. "She's fine, she just needs rest."  
  
"Do you know what caused her to faint?" Seifer asked.  
  
"Well she's been eating, everything's normal. My guess is stress or anxiety. Whatever's weighing on her mind took it's toll on her body." the guy said, walking over to the IV machine.  
  
"So is she going to be moved?" Seifer asked, watching the medic pulled the IV out of her wrist slowly.  
  
"That's the plan. She'll probably sleep for a few hours. You can stay in the room with her if you want. We've got a cafeteria on the basement floor if you're hungry."  
  
Seifer nodded. "Okay, thanks. I'll follow you to the room first." he said.  
  
Once she was settled in to a decent room, Seifer grabbed a strong cup of coffee from the cafeteria, then headed back down to the room. He sat in a soft chair next to her bed and watched her sleep.  
  
He took one of her hands into his and stroke his thumb over it lightly. The minutes passed like hours. He watched the clock tick away the seconds.  
  
"What am I doing here...?" he whispered. He looked over at her, then back at her hand. "It's funny...when I went off to Galbadia, I didn't think that after a few weeks of attending, I'd end up in a hospital, holding the hand of a beautiful woman who fainted because I kissed her."  
  
"Don't get too cocky Almasy..." she said groggily.  
  
"Hey, you're awake." he said, looking over at her.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked.  
  
"Dollet Hospital. You just passed out cold." he said.  
  
"You brought me here?" she asked, looking down at their interlocked hands.  
  
"With the help of an ambulance, yes." he said.  
  
She looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. You shouldn't have stayed with me..."  
  
"I wanted to stay with you." he said softly.  
  
"Seifer..." she started. Her breath caught in her throat. She had to tell him the truth, but she didn't want to tell him. It wasn't fair not to tell him, and she knew she could trust him. She just didn't want him to go, and knowing his temper, he would. "...thank you." she finished. "It feels good to be taken care of." 


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: *hangs head in shame* I know, haven't updated for over a month. You see, this is like a turning point in the story that needs to be written just right. It's not anywhere near the ending, but this chapter will ultimately change the ending depending on how it is written. I originally had things planned out, but as I read over my work and analyze everything, I find that the ending I had in mind doesn't work as well as I thought it would. So, I've been planning, mulling things over in my head, and now I think I've got it all straightened out well enough that I can continue working on the fic. Thanks to every one of you who supported me, even during my inexcusably long hiatus. I appreciate every review, and I promise to finish this story, if it is the last one I write…which it won't be but still ^_^   
  
Quistis had sipped back into a nap only maybe half an hour after awakening earlier, Seifer opting to stay with her. A soft creak. Seifer looked over his shoulder, toward the door, to see a blonde haired man standing in the doorframe. Seifer and the man exchanged open-mouthed looks of shock.   
  
"Zell?! What are you doing here?!" Seifer said, standing abruptly. Zell strode over to the foot of the bed.   
  
"What are YOU doing here?!" he retorted, his face flushed red with anger at the sight of the former knight. Before letting Seifer answer, he grabbed Quistis' ankle and shook her leg gently. "Quistis, c'mon wake up."  
  
"What are you doing Dincht?! Leave her alone!" Seifer said harshly, forcing himself not to yell in the facility.  
  
The room grew larger and clearer to Quistis as her eyelids slowly parted and focus came with her sight. She blinked once.  
  
"Do you even know who this IS?!" Zell said to Seifer in the same harsh tone. He glanced at Quistis, but it took a second look to see she was now awake. "Look, you woke her up you asshole."  
  
Seifer's eyebrows met at Zell's insult, but parted when he looked down at Quistis and realized that the guy was right, she was awake.   
  
Quistis' drowsiness vanished the second she recognized Zell. She sat up immediately. "Zell what are you doing here?!"  
  
"You know him?!" Seifer cut in before Zell could answer.  
  
"Of course she knows me." Zell said snidely. He turned to Quistis. "How are you feeling?"  
  
Quistis sighed. Already, she could feel a headache starting at her temples. But it would spread, oh how it would spread…and now the truth. It would come from her or Zell, better it was her. "Seifer." She took in a breath. How hard could one sentence be? She was almost afraid of his reaction. "I haven't been completely truthful with you. I had right not to be, mind you--"  
  
"What do you mean 'haven't been completely truthful'?!" he said shortly.  
  
She flashed him a look of annoyance. "Let me finish my sentence." She paused slightly to take a look at Zell. Confusion was written all over his face, but he seemed to be tying loose ends with every passing second so that she might not have to for him. Good. She continued. "I'm not Maylee Rinthe…there is no Maylee Rinthe."  
  
She locked eyes with Seifer, trying to read the emotions swimming within. It was like deciphering ancient writings, but she could make out confusion. Confusion and definite anger, maybe even fury. Her eyes grew hot with tears as she felt her throat grow tight.  
  
Maybe Zell had grown impatient with the awkward silence of the room, or maybe he just wanted to get things out and in the open as quickly as possible. Or maybe he was taking the chance to say words he had a feeling would hurt Seifer. Quistis would never know why he spoke, but he did. "Imagine your former Instructor with a head of red hair."  
  
The uncertainty of whether or not Seifer was angry was now gone completely. He balled his fists. It looked like he was at a loss for words. He was too angry to speak. Too angry to think. Everything was still sinking in, and what had, made him feel so betrayed that he wanted no more to sink in. But it all did, with each long second of what seemed like an hour of standing there in front of this woman who was no longer beautiful. No longer perfect. Like a beautiful mirror that has been dropped to the ground and shattered into a million pieces, and even if it is ever repaired, you can never look into it and see the same thing you saw before it fell to it's ruining.  
  
"I was on a mission, I couldn't tell anyone who I was." Quistis managed in a weak voice. Weak? Yes. Apologetic? No.   
  
He shook his head once, twice, and turned, headed for the door. The tip of his trench coat barely made it into the hallway before the sky blue wooden door slammed behind him. The loud bang echoed in Quistis' ears like the deafening sound, serving her the final verdict. The taste of his lips that afternoon came to her first. The look in his eyes when he laughed about her blonde roots. The feel of his touch when he held her hand and told her he wanted to be here for her. He had left it all behind, in the room, so it could torture her soul and plague her thoughts and haunt her dreams.  
  
For once, had she taken a mission too far? This time she hadn't meddled in politics or cheated in battle, she had toyed with the heart of a live person. But then the other side of her argued, was any of it really her fault? She never asked Seifer to see her in the…well however he'd seen her, she never asked him to. She didn't flirt, she didn't make it a point to socialize with him, and it's not like she had control over his feelings. All she did was withhold information, which was one thing her mission required of her.  
  
Still, for some reason she had the awful feeling of guilt gnawing at her insides, like she had betrayed him, somehow. None of it made sense and all she really wanted to do was crawl into a dark corner and die.   
  
"Quistis." She looked up at Zell. The look on his face…she suddenly realized she was crying. She brought a trembling hand up to her cheek to brush away a stream of wetness. How much time had passed since he slammed that door? Couldn't have been more than a few seconds. The bed sheets pulled slightly as Zell sat down on the corner of the bed. "What's happened?" 


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry it took so long. I've been busy with school and a few roleplays I run at the Seiftis Forever message board. I would like to express a personal thanks to the reviewer who flamed. I appreciate it. Next time, why don't you bother logging in, so we can all see what great fics you have?  
  
To Keep A Secret  
  
Chapter 15  
  
"Too much. I'll tell you later, just get me back home." she said, swinging her legs over the side of the hospital bed.   
  
"Oh, right," Zell said, standing up. "I was supposed to get you out of here a-s-a-p."  
  
Quistis gave him a look that sarcastically said 'well done'. He flushed and started for the door.   
  
Once into the lobby, Zell grabbed her arm and led her for an emergency exit. "We can't leave through the front, Galbadian soldiers don't know I'm here, and technically you aren't allowed to leave Dollet. I'm smuggling you out." Zell flashed a characteristic grin. Quistis, however, didn't find any of this in the least bit amusing. He opened the door and she stepped out into a dirty alley. Well, it could hardly be called an alley. There was only about four feet between the side of the hospital and the side of another building.   
  
Zell stepped out behind her and gestured for her to follow him. They came to the road behind the hospital. "This way." Zell said, turning right and heading down the sidewalk at a fast stride. Quistis hurried to catch up.   
  
"Where are we going?" she asked.   
  
"I've got a chopper waiting for us at the empty lot on the corner of Fourth and Winger." Zell said, grabbing her arm and pulling her into the street. "It'll take us straight to B-Garden...that is, if we're not spotted before getting to the chopper."   
  
Quistis glanced around them--half-skipping, half-walking--to keep up with Zell. They crossed the street and Zell lead her down another gap between two brick buildings.   
  
"You look so different." Zell commented over his shoulder.   
  
"Is that a compliment or what?" she asked. They emerged from the gap, at yet another sidewalk.   
  
"No, just a comment." he said with a sniff, then started across the road. Upon reaching the sidewalk on the other side of the road he made a sharp turn and started up the side, almost at a run.  
  
"Are we almost where this chopper is supposed to be?" she asked impatiently. Dollet wasn't a large city, they had to be somewhere near the edge of town.  
  
"Almost." he said, taking a sharp turn into yet another gap between buildings. They emerged at a dirt road. The opposite side of the street was mostly bare, except for a dilapidated old hotel and some kind of factory that hogged half the street. Smoke erupted from the spouts of four pillars on top of the factory, clouding the air above it. "The chopper's on the other side of the factory. Look there, you can make out two of its propellors." he said, pointing. "Come on." He set off at a stride toward the area where he pointed.   
  
Quistis, again, had to kind of skip-stride to catch up to him. She panted almost silently, looking over her shoulder, then back toward Zell. The closer they came to the factory, more and more of the chopper was visible. Soon enough they rounded the corner of the building, and a standard Balamb Garden chopper sat silently in the dirt, the form of a man wearing a SeeD uniform in the pilot's seat.   
  
The pilot opened the right side door and Zell gestured for Quistis to climb inside. She grabbed the sides of the doorframe and hoisted herself up into the small cockpit, sliding over one seat to leave a space for Zell, who climbed in after her and shut the door.   
  
"Buckle up." the pilot said, as he punched a few buttons on the control console. Quistis reached up and pulled the slick strap that made the seatbelt down across her chest and pushed it into the small slot at her hip, then tugged on it once to make sure it was properly secured. The propellors above them began spinning slowly at first, then faster.   
  
Quistis turned to Zell as the chopper began it's rise into the cloudy grey sky. Now that they were safe inside the chopper, she could speak with him about something that had muddled her thoughts since Headmaster Martine announced it. "What the hell was Laguna thinking, declaring war on Galbadia, with me over in Galbadia Garden?!"  
  
An anxious looked briefly flashed over Zell's face. "Quistis, Laguna didn't declare war on Galbadia. Vice President Haphner did." Quistis' eyebrows came together, a display of her confusion. Zell sighed, before continuing. "Quistis, Laguna was assasinated."  
  
Quistis' eyes widened in shock as a hand flew over her open mouth. Her gaze traveled the interior of the chopper briefly, before resting again on Zell's eyes. "But who...when?!"  
  
"It was the day before Headmaster Martine announced the war to G-Garden, I think. I guess Haphner's been itching to go to war with Galbadia. He say's Laguna is too hesitant with things, but the Vice Pres. couldn't really do anything until now because of his position. Laguna was killed that morning, and Haphner declared war that night." Zell said.  
  
Quistis frowned angrily. "How could he be so disrespectful to the former President?! But how was Laguna killed?! Do they know who it was?!"  
  
"He was shot at the Esthar Plaza. He was making a speech at the podium, and then he just...fell. Nobody knows exactly who it was, but they've got a forensics expert on the case who can tell which direction the bullet came from by the way it entered Laguna's body. They think it was a sniper from the top of the Madelin Tower." Zell said with a sigh.   
  
Quistis shook her head. "But they don't have any suspects yet?!"  
  
"Well everyone who was inside the Madelin at the time of his speech is technically a suspect, but the only one with motives is Haphner himself. Of course it wasn't him, he was sitting right there on stage, next to governers and the like. Maybe he hired someone to do it." Zell said. The tone of his voice told Quistis how he felt about the whole ordeal.   
  
"Well...how are the others?" she asked with a look of concern.   
  
Zell sighed. "They're...handling it. Selphie and Rinoa were crying, but everyone's past tears now. Squall's shrunk even deeper into himself, he's practically silent." Zell paused before continuing. "The funeral is tomorrow."  
  
Quistis sat back against her seat and swallowed. Her and Laguna were anything but close, they'd only met a less than half a year ago, but she still felt a knot in her throat. She gazed out the chopper window, watching the mist of the clouds brush past the window.   
  
"Quistis, why was Seifer in the hospital room with you?" Zell asked suddenly.   
  
She sighed and turned back to Zell. "He's the one that called the ambulance for me. I fainted on the dock."   
  
"You fainted?!" he asked, alarmed.  
  
"It's not such a big deal. I was stressed, tired, and probably hungry. I just blacked out." she decided to leave out the part about Seifer's kiss.   
  
"I guess your mission was too big for one person to handle. Even if the one person was Child Prodigy Trepe herself." Zell said with a grin.   
  
Quistis gave a hallow laugh. She could tell Zell was trying to cheer her up, but no matter what kind of joke he cracked, after hearing about the death of Laguna, nothing was going to make her cheery. What kind of future was in store for Esthar? Was Balamb Garden's alliance with the city going to be severed due to Haphner assuming power? "Zell, what about Garden's alliance with Esthar?"  
  
"Well Garden is pretty chaotic at the moment. Headmaster Cid is still in the process of deciding what is best for the SeeDs of Balamb Garden. He's taking too long on the decision, if you ask me." he said, a hint of irritance in his tone.  
  
Quistis sighed. Everything was a mess, externally and internally. A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Zell, what about your vacation? I thought you were with your mom?"  
  
"I flew back to Garden the night I found out about Laguna's murder, and as soon as Haphner declared war, they sent me out here to get you." Zell responded. "Cristti's back at Garden with the rest of them." he added, refering to his girlfriend.   
  
Quistis fell back against her seat, once again. "Thanks."  
  
Zell let out a laugh. "You think we'd leave you there to fight for the other side?"   
  
Quistis smiled. "Well I wasn't sure..."  
  
Zell laughed again. "How could you not be sure?! Come now, Quistis, we wouldn't forget all about you."  
  
"Well I didn't think you'd forgotten, Zell. I knew something was wrong, but you can't blame me for being scared." she said, looking over at him.   
  
"I guess so." he said, gazing at the ground at his feet. "It was a real bitch tracking you down though. Had no idea you'd landed yourself in the hospital."  
  
"It's not like fainting was intentional." Quistis replied coolly.  
  
"Yeah, and then I get there," Zell continued, ignoring her comment."and you've got Almasy sitting next to you, holding your hand." Zell replied in the same cool tone.  
  
Quistis couldn't will away the redness she knew was spreading her cheeks. She didn't think Zell had seen that much. "What do you mean?"   
  
Zell turned his head to her. "So you didn't know he was holding your hand?"  
  
"No." she replied, trying to sound convincing.  
  
"Yeah well, he was. Why, I don't know, but I can't say I like it. He's a criminal, Quistis. And now he's on -their- side." he said, refering to the Galbadians. "One more reason to put a hurt on his ass to add to the list."  
  
"At least he's righting himself." Quistis said. "Now he's actually a SeeD, and from what I've seen, he isn't half bad at following the rules anymore."  
  
"I guess he has matured, then." Zell said. "Still doesn't explain why he was holding your hand."   
  
"I suppose it doesn't." Quistis replied quietly. She sighed and leaned back against her seat, and for the remainder of the flight, the only noise in the air was the buzz of the propellors. 


End file.
